Welcome to the AC Tropical Fish aquarium forum. Our aquarium forum is the place to discuss any aquarium related issue in a friendly environment. Our aquarium forum welcomes aquarists of all levels from beginners to experts. Please ask a question in the how to section of our forum or read the FAQ section if you have any questions. register to and become a part of our friendly aquarium forum community today.

Amelia's Menagerie & Aquarium Evolution (photo-heavy!)

1

So it's been a while since I was an active member on AC (do you guys actually remember me? Yes, no, maybe?). I've had an eventful last 6 months or so with a lot on my plate, during which time fishkeeping really took a backseat, I got to the point of throwing my hands up and selling majority of my fish because I just couldn't be bothered any more and almost sold all my tanks before seeing the light of day and settling back down again!

So with that drama out of the way, I start again here with a new journal. I hope to actually regularly post in this one, not just drift off and forget about it in a month. I have cut down on the number of tanks I own from 8 to 5, only 2 of which contain water and life. I have also added a ragdoll kitten (Polo) and an 8yo Papillon x rescue dog (Pippi) to my little menagerie -- to go with my two 1yo pet rats, Lucky and Daisy (don't knock it 'til you've tried it, rats make fantastic pets and I am fairly certain they would outsmart my dog and cat any day).

So to get the ball rolling here's a shot of my lovely 120g... Looking a little sparse right now! I sold all my New World cichlids (sad ) and now it has to be repaired before I start on my next project -- the brace bars that run across the top are broken so it bows out of shape when it's filled. Just waiting to hear back from the tank repair guy!

BTW -- I AM taking requests for what to put in my empty 30g! Something unique. Keeping in mind I don't like mixing fish from different regions.

Here are some shots from some of my other tanks... my 15g Lake Tang species-only tank with Gold Occies/Lamprologus occelatus.

Some of you may know I went through a great deal to get a breeding group of Occies shipped down from the North Island (I live in New Zealand where we don't have a large range of fish available). This was, as far as we know, one of the only successful breeding groups of this species in the country and so after a few months of people constantly emailing and ringing me hassling me to send fry all over the place I got annoyed with the whole scenario, sold the breeding group to a proper breeder with his own designated breeding facilities and just kept a small group of fry to entertain myself. I am finding them much more enjoyable as I don't have to worry about them breeding -- plus they are cute and little.

I have ended up with 5 little juvies from the group of fry at the moment. It has taken them a while to come out of their shells (HAH -- get it? I'm hilarious) and at first they would hide the moment that anyone walked by the tank but now they are really bold and swim up to see me whenever I visit them. They have yet to develop the thirst for human flesh their parents had.

Every time one of the juvies becomes a problem and starts picking on the others he gets rehomed to the breeders place. I may end up moving these guys to the empty 30g to give them some more space but at 1 inch each I don't feel like they need it right now. This tank is pretty much the same as it always was, except that I've now added a black background.

Some photos -- I love how their purple "sparkles" really show!!

I love this photo, its like she's telling that other guy over there to piss off.

And don't laugh because this is like the best FTS I've ever managed to get of this tank. My camera just hates it.

And it would be a crime to not talk about my 60g. This tank has been through everything and had pretty much ever fish under the sun in it at some point, from embarrassing stocking trainwreck to severums to an oscar to various collections of random community fish -- only for me to finally, finally settle on what I THINK is complete stocking as a South-East Asian Community.

It currently contains 20 Harlequin Rasbora, 16 White Cloud Mountain Minnows, 8 Yoyo Loaches, 8 Polka-Dot Loaches, a Rainbow Shark and a Platinum Gourami. I may yet ditch the shark and gourami and possibly add some SAE. But for now I'm gunna call it pretty much stocked!

It runs 2x Sunsun HW-303B UV canister filters which are rated for up to 100g each according to amazon. I seriously doubt that. I still need to add a black background but the layout is there (it was recently rescaped when I tore it up to catch some fish out). Plants need some work to get them back to what they were before I let this tank crash from neglect. And something seems to be eating my stricta!

A Yoyo and a Polka-Dot hanging out.

Probably the best shot I've ever managed to get of my Harleys, which I've had coming up 2 years now (one of the only fish that survived pretty much all my setups).

You could stick close to home and have a rainbow fish tank. If I had such a tank I'd cover the bottom in river rocks and plant Jungle Val all along the back and then in strategic places throughout the tank to break up the line of sight. Giving it a sense of depth. Then just watching a school of Boesemanis dart in and out.

If you take your time to do the research FIRST, you can successfully set-up and keep ANY type of aquarium with ease."Not using a quarantine tank is like playing Russian roulette. Nobody wins the game, some people just get to play longer than others." - Anthony CalfoFishless CycleCycling with FishMarine Aquarium Info [URL="http://saltwater.aquaticcommunity.com/"]